A Promised Day Arrived
The Helsinki Finland Temple Dedication, Part 3
Text by Maurine Jensen Proctor
Photos by Scot Facer Proctor

History in their Hearts

So this glorious temple meant more than the Finns could say, and though Paivi Haikkola wore her grandmother’s dress, everyone carried a history of the work in Finland in their hearts.

How things have matured. The temple also brought a meeting with the President of Finland, Mrs. Tarja Halonen, with Helsinki stake president Ismo Maatta and first Finnish stake president Kari Haikkola.

It was 15 minutes stretched to 20 because of the lively and friendly discussion where they brought the greetings of President Hinckley.

President Halonen mentioned that she was the first president of Finland to give an audience to our church. “She is right,” said President Haikkola, “because this is the first time an audience was given to a Finnish leader of the Church. However, in the 1950s the president of Finland had met President David O’Mckay, and President Hinckley had met the Finnish president during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The Mountain of the Lord

Finland is a flat country, but the temple is built on a promontory, situated on a granite outcrop that stands like a symbol of the temple’s enduring eternal meaning. The morning of the dedication many nations were literally flowing and rising to come to this temple.

The Finns have long been a temple-attending people. At the temple, they were known for their attendance and faith. “Most are faithful temple goers,” acknowledged President Haikkola.

When the Finns were in the Swiss temple district, “we traveled there together as members and stayed the whole week. It was a wonderful experience for us. The longer the trip, the more time we had to be together. It was one night to Stockholm and then two days from there. “Usually we did it once, twice or three times a year. We tried it by bus, by train and by airplane. Often we took the family with us, and camped. We have very fond memories of those times.”

When the Stockholm temple was built, they had less distance to travel, but no less devotion.

Now, the Finns have their own temple, so beautiful, that when President Haikkola took the construction workers on a tour during the open house, “They were caressing the doors and the panels. They said this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them to work on something of this quality. Because construction on other buildings is so often done quickly, they said, you can never do your best. On this project, we got to do our best for the Lord.”

Elder Quentin White, who was the missionary in charge of construction said, “I’ve had 20 or 30 workers tell me that it was a privilege to work on this project.” He said, “The spirit of unity during the construction was more than I’ve felt anywhere in my life.”

Temples are built without an expiration date. They are maintained every year so that no aspect of them is allowed to deteriorate. They are meant to last into the millennium.

The Sun is Up

The cornerstone choir was practicing in Finnish, “High on a Mountain Top” and “I Believe in Christ” as the sun began to break, chasing away the mist and painting morning colors across the sky. It was about then that President Hinckley had arrived, looking more robust than he has in several months since his bout with cancer.

When President Hinckley had arrived at the temple earlier that morning, he greeted the crowd with a smile and a wave, but he had individual comments for two in the audience—one was a member of the press and the other was a little boy who had been standing by his father in a wheel chair and found a spot to stop just at the entrance of the temple.

President Hinckley stopped for a moment, turned to nine-year-old Aaron Kaleva who stood by his father, Eero, and said, “You’re a very fine looking boy.”

It was a comment that resonated more than he could have known. In the parking lot Aaron had said a prayer with his family in the car and had asked specifically that the prophet would speak to him. To him this was the message: the Lord hears me and the prophet hears the Lord.

Click here to go to Part 4 of A Promised Day Arrived